A fact of life

As they now stood in front of one another, the bodyguard nodded at Noah in a way that almost seemed professionally trained before he said, "Yes. Of course. I'll let my colleague begin." He gestured to the shadow and she began speaking. "As we predicted, there were explosives in your car at well. It seems that they were well prepared and didn't want to leave anything up to luck. The amount of explosives they put in your car, makes what was used for this morning's explosion, seem like nothing. If you had tried to use your car instead of Mr. Branson's car, you would have knocked out this entire wall and the force of the explosion alone would have killed all three of you. It almost seems like putting explosives in Mr. Branson's car, was an impromptu decision. Perhaps they didn't know you had come separately or maybe his car was their back-up plan, 'seizing an opportunity that has been presented' kind of thing. Either way, it was very fortunate that you picked your friend's car instead of your own."

Noah was quite shocked to hear this and he looked over at the bodyguard whom he already felt indebted to for shielding him from this morning's explosion but now even more so. It had been him to suggesting taking Steve's car as he already anticipated that they might have done something to his car. If they hadn't expected to be rigging Steve's car as well, how could he have? Both of them had gone above and beyond. They were well worth every penny they made and he would be sure to give them something extra for saving his family, his friend and himself. Though he would never be able to repay them, he could give them something as a gesture to show that he at least appreciated what they had done.

All he could do as she continued her report, was nod and stand there like some statue as he let it all wash over him. He looked in the bodyguard's direction to thank him again with a special nod, one that all men seemed to have. It expressed what Noah wanted to express in that moment without interrupting the shadow's report and a seed planted for his actual 'thank you' later. The bodyguard seemed to have understood the meaning of Noah's nod as he showed a trace of smile and gave Noah a nod of his own. Then they both returned their focus to the matter at hand, which required every bit of their focus.

Once Noah had heard all about the explosives, the triggering mechanism and how it had all been diffused and sent over to the police as evidence, along with the recording of the diffusing of the bomb, it was time for the bodyguard to start his report. He had been tasked to finding out more about the person responsible for what had happened this morning and he had managed to find out quite a lot in those few hours. Not only was he very skilled himself, he had all the gadgets and databases of the secret service to his disposal.

By getting the images from the security footage and throwing that in the search-programme of the database, he found a match in no time. Although the man had tried very hard to hide his face from the cameras, they were everywhere. Some visible, others hidden. Locations unknown to even the staff that worked at I.E. Making it close to impossible for anyone to hide from their security system, good or bad. This was necessary because these cameras were also used for the face recognition software that was connected to a lot of security layers of the company. Among which, entrance to the elevator leading up to the main floor.

Of course you couldn't get to the actual main floor without an ID-badge to scan against the button-panel but the software had a lot of nice perks. For example, it registered where you parked for when you forget or have trouble finding your car. Even having the option to be navigated to it with the app of the company software. It provided second hand security for occasions where cards had been lost, stolen or forgotten. Allowing an access code entry based on proper facial recognition. And there were many more of such added benefits, which were a blessing for many. Especially for those with a touch of forgetfulness or those that were a bit scattered/absent-minded. A trait many a programmer share when it comes to day to day things, as their mind is filled with other information.

This time that facial recognition software had managed to help them find the man responsible for what had happened this morning. He wasn't just any other person. From the shadow's report, it was clear that it was a very dangerous yet skilled man. A man this skilled with explosives was bound to have been arrested for a crime here or there as those skills are honed over time. Meaning that in the beginning, he is bound to have messed up if he acquired those skills on his own or participated in some different types of crime in order to get in touch with someone to teach him to be this good. A fact of life that had made him so easy to find on a day like this.